Area teachers use Texas Farm Bureau program to promote agriculture

By HOMER MARQUEZ hmarquez@hearstnp.com

Published 4:32 am, Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Photo: Homer Marquez/Plainview Herald

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Area teachers use crafts to make student greenhouse during the 2015 Ag in the Classroom workshop held in Plainview Tuesday. The teachers will use the hands activities to teach students about the concepts of agriculture. less

Area teachers use crafts to make student greenhouse during the 2015 Ag in the Classroom workshop held in Plainview Tuesday. The teachers will use the hands activities to teach students about the concepts of ... more

Photo: Homer Marquez/Plainview Herald

Area teachers use Texas Farm Bureau program to promote agriculture

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Their mission is to promote and grow the concepts of agriculture. And with the help of local school teachers, Texas Farm Bureau is hoping to plant seeds of agricultural knowledge into a younger generation with their annual "Ag in the Classroom" workshop, which was held Tuesday at the Hale County office.

"We were looking for more science activities to do with our students, and this looked like it was more hands-on and more enjoyable than just sitting there and being lectured," said Motley County science teacher Judy Cooper, who made the trip to Plainview to attend the workshop.

Nearly 20 teachers from Plainview, Swisher County, Lubbock and other West Texas schools attended the workshop.

"Our mission is to show teachers how to integrate agriculture into the classroom, into their lesson plans," said Jana Middleton, a Texas Farm Bureau field representative for the Hale County office.

The workshop is designed to give teachers ideas on how they can teach different subjects with agriculture as the example. This would include examples like teaching math with seeds or science with student- made green houses.

"Integrating agriculture into the classroom is our theme," said Texas Farm Bureau Director of Urban Development Baron Bartels, who was on hand Tuesday to help teach. "(Teachers) already have the curriculum they have to teach, and what we do is try to take agriculture concepts and build them into what they are already teaching so they don't have to change their lesson plan."

To make sure the concepts stick in the minds of the youth, Bartels says the program focuses on creating more hands-on activities for students and teachers.

"The more hands-on activities we can get in the classroom, the better they will learn. We want to make it interactive, engaging and fun for the students," Bartels said.

The Ag in the Classroom initiative is a state program. Bartels and his crew travel the area helping teachers and agriculture.

"Now, kids are three or four generations away from production agriculture," Middleton said. "They weren't raised on a farm. Less than 2 percent of the population is involved in production agriculture and sometimes parents, grandparents or great-grandparents were the last ones on the farm. This gives students a chance to know where their food comes from. From agriculture, not just the grocery store."